Paramount will handle the domestic distribution, while Warner's, which oversaw the roll-out for "Inception" and the Batman movies and where Nolan is considered a crown jewel, will handle the film internationally.

It will be released beginning Nov. 7, 2014, in theaters and IMAX.

As usual with Nolan's projects, "Interstellar's" details are getting the state-secret treatment, but the studios did say in a release that it centers on a voyage to the furthest reaches of scientific understanding.

Nolan will direct and write the picture. Jonathan Nolan, his brother and frequent writing partner, will collaborate on the script.

Co-productions among rival studios are not unheard of, though they are hardly the norm. Paramount and 20th Century Fox, for example, had a similar arrangement on "Titanic," and like James Cameron, Nolan is no stranger to painting on a big canvas.